FCKC plays Seattle to another draw

FC Kansas City had a one-person advantage for 86 minutes during Saturday’s match at the Seattle Reign, however it couldn’t pull off the victory, finishing in a 1-1 draw with the Reign.

Brittany Ratcliffe put FCKC up 1-0 in the 16th minute on her first career goal. It came off an assist from Alexa Newfield. But Seattle’s Naho Kawasumi knocked in the equalizer in the 58th minute, beating FCKC keeper Nicole Barnhart on the far post, following an initial cross from Megan Rapinoe.

After finishing in a 2-2 draw with Seattle last week in Kansas City , Saturday’s match was physical from the beginning. Seattle lost its captain Lauren Barnes in the 4th minute, when she was ejected after receiving a red card for taking down Shea Groom.

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Groom favored her arm after the fall, but played the rest of the game and had several chances in the second half, finding herself on a couple of one-on-ones. Andonovski said Groom wasn’t 100 percent after the early tackle and will have her arm checked out Sunday morning.

“She (Groom) was fighting hard,” Andonovski said. “She had a couple opportunities to score and open up the game late, but she was hurt. But we’re not going to look back and cry about this game.”

After Seattle gritted out the equalizer, FCKC upped the tempo. Kansas City had nine crosses in the last 15 minutes, but was never able to convert the go-ahead goal. FCKC outshot Seattle 22-8 and had advantage in possession 60 to 40 percent.

“Too many times in this league, it comes down to one pass, one cross, one shot that makes the difference,” Andonovski said. “We have to shift our focus quickly to Wednesday.”